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For the first month of 2012, Ford Motor Company enjoyed vehicle sales of 136,710 units, representing a seven-percent gain over January 2011. The gains were buoyed mostly by healthy volumes of the F-series trucks, the Escape SUV, and the Focus compact.

Last month’s sales tally was Ford’s strongest January since 2008, with double-digit sales growth for many key models. The F-series pickup truck family once again topped the brand’s sales charts, with 38,493 sales representing a 7.5-percent year-over-year growth. Of F-150 retail sales, 42 percent were equipped with Ford’s EcoBoost engine, and a total of 54 percent of trucks had either the EcoBoost V-6 or Ford’s 3.7-liter V-6 engine. The truck family was closely followed by the Escape SUV, which saw sales jump 23.5 percent to 17,259, the model’s best-ever January sales figure. The Focus sedan and hatchback enjoyed a 59.8-percent sales gain compared to 2011, selling 14,400 vehicles and making January the model’s strongest sales month since 2003.

“Escape continued its record-setting run, and Focus set the pace for car sales in California, Texas and the Southeast,” Ford marketing, sales, and service vice president Ken Czubay said in a statement.

Other big year-over-year gains came from the Taurus, up 19.0 percent to 3447 sales last month; the Mustang, up 18.0 percent to 3736 cars (losing out the Chevrolet Camaro by 1973 units); and the Explorer, which saw 9966 sales for a growth of 35.6 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, big losers for the Ford brand include the Fusion, down 5.1 percent to just 13,614 monthly sales; the Edge crossover, which fell 6.8 percent to 8315 sales; the Fiesta, which saw sales slip 18.0 percent to 3502; and the Flex, which suffered a 26.9-percent sales decline to finish the month at 1465 units.

The Lincoln division struggled last month and as a result sales fell 7.9 percent compared to a year prior. The biggest loser was the now-discontinued Town Car, which managed to sell just 140 units — down 83.9 percent versus January 2011. The MKT crossover also suffered a 28.5-percent sales hit and finished the month with just 279 sales.